SEARCH FOR IT ON WRITER OF POP

Subscribe to this blog

FOLLOW BY EMAIL

FEATURED POST

MOVIE REVIEW
While not exactly a golden rule, it is known fact that if a movie does well in the box office, chances are good that it will be followed by sequel and more often than not, we’ve come to expect that the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Add a third movie to the mix and you’re just asking for trouble. With animated movies, the expectations are often even lower. (Is anyone really surprised that the Ice Age movies keep getting worse?) But sometimes, as is the case with the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies, we’re pleasantly surprised. Now you can add How to Train Your Dragon to that short list too.

One thing that DreamWorks Animation has understood about this series is that the story comes first, the hijinks come later. The very first Dragon movie proved that way back in 2010 with a strong story and with each chapter that has come after it, that story just keeps getting better. What started out as a cute kid’s story has become a powerful trilogy. We've seen these chara…

ABC Brings Back 'Battle of the Network Stars'

TV

Starting during the summer on 1976, one of my favorite TV specials was the Battle of the Network Stars. If you are as old as me, you remember that we only had three national TV networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) and the show only aired once per summer. About eight or nine stars from each network would compete during the 90-minute special. Now in 2017, ABC is bringing the show back but times have changed. We now have about a million networks. So, for this revival, the “special” will run for 10 consecutive weeks beginning on Thursday, June 29 at 9:00 p.m. Fourteen different networks will be represented but the teams will be divided by genre instead of networks and only two teams of five players each will compete each week. However, in the long run, more stars will be competing this year than in the previous years – 100 to be exact. Another change this year is that specials will features stars from current TV shows as well as many from shows in the past whereas in the golden days of Battle of the Network Stars, the shows featured were currently running on the three networks.

Those who remember the original specials will be happy to learn that the 2017 version will give tribute to the original Wild World of Sports version where the hosts (Mike Greenberg and Joe Tessitore from ESPN) and sideline reporters (Cassidy Hubbarth and Cari Champion from ESPN) will be sporting the old gold sportscoats of yesteryear.

Though there will be ten teams competing, they will all share two team captains: Super Bowl 50 winner DeMarcus Ware and MMA fighter/Olympian Ronda Rousey.

ABC also promises new takes on classic sporting events like Tug of War, Archery, Kayak Relay, Obstacle Course and the Dunk Tank – all from the site of the original series the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The two teams competing this Thursday include:

Popular Posts

MOVIES
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since everything was awesome, at least in the world of Lego as seen in the original Lego Movie. Since then Lego-themed movies have been released, none of which have been as popular, lucrative or received as much praise from critics as the original.

Now the gang is back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part but everything appears to be less awesome as Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg and is getting worse when this world is threatened by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. Still, just like is real life, Legos can always rebuild.

It takes a lot of physical and CGI Legos to create a movie. Here is a breakdown on how that looks:

2: The number of characters Chris Pratt, Stephanie Beatriz and Alison Brie play in the film. (Pratt plays Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Beatriz plays General Mayhem and Sweet Mayhem and Brie plays Unikitty and Ultrakitty)

3: The number of times Will Arnett has voiced the role of Batman in a Lego movie.

TVAmerica’s Got Talent: The Champions brought back 50 of the best acts from the different world versions of the show to compete one more time for the chance to win a really impressive (or tall) trophy, $25,000 cash and pretty incredible bragging rights. The two-hour presentation began with an hour full of filler of past acts, silly bits and interviews with the dozen remaining acts hoping to win.

Soon the 12 was whittled down to five including ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, sand artist Kseniya Imonova, card magician Shin Lim, singer Cristina Ramos and comedian Preacher Lawson. And during the show’s last five minutes of the show the winner was revealed.